


Worrying

by musikurt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-03 04:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/377405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musikurt/pseuds/musikurt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy worries when Cedric disappears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worrying

Percy had to resist his initial urge to come running down to the middle of the maze when Harry and Cedric returned from wherever it was they had disappeared. When it happened, his heart stopped and he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to hide his worries and emotions. Since he was helping run the games, he was able to channel most of it into what would pass as the concern he should have as both part of his job and just general human nature. This was definitely not a planned part of the tournament and he was just as confused as everyone else about what was going on.

It was hard to find a moment to stop and collect his thoughts, but after he was able to assure Fudge repeatedly that this was not something that was supposed to happen, he found his window to slip away. He said he was going to go down to the tents where the champions were getting ready to see if there might be any clues down there about what happened. He turned into the empty stairwell and collapsed against the wall, tears streaming down his fact.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do if Cedric was not found and returned to him safely. He cared more about him than he had ever cared about anyone before in his life. They had come together very quickly and there was a closeness about their relationship that he would wager even rivaled the relationship between his own parents. The only hard thing about it was that they had to keep it a secret. Neither of them were certain their families would be thrilled about their relationship and then there was the age difference and everything else that went along with it. Cedric was now the age of majority, so there wasn't anything clearly illegal about them being together. The hitch was that since Percy worked for the Ministry, any relations with a student might raise some eyebrows. And then there was the bigger issue of Cedric being a champion in the tournament and Percy's role in setting up the challenges. He never leaked any information as they had both agreed to play it fair - and Cedric would not have had it any other way - but that didn't mean that the representatives from the other schools would hesitate to accuse the Ministry and Hogwarts of planning some sort of shenanigans.

Percy sighed as he tried to collect himself and continue down the stairs. He figured if they made it back there would be cheers from the crowd. Since he had not heard anything, he assumed there was no news and he should continue with the task he had assigned to himself.

There were no clues in the tents. He searched through all of the champions' belongings, even though it was hard to go through Cedric's area. Everything reminded him of his missing lover and his smell brought Percy to tears once more. He had not even allowed himself to think about all of the different scenarios that could be afoot in the situation, mostly because he didn't want to think of Cedric coming to any harm.

The idea of something happening to Cedric left him stunned. He literally could not move and he was uncertain how long he stood there in the tent before he came back to reality. He figured it was best to get back up to the Minister's box to see if he could be of any other assistance and to report that he had not seen anything suspicious down in the champions' tent.

As he approached the door, he heard arguing. Amos Diggory was up there and was clearly very upset. He could hear him demanding information on what had happened to his son and accusing the Minister of putting all of the students in unnecessary and perilous danger for the mere purpose of putting on a show. He went on a rant about how he had recommended against the revival of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and that it was irresponsible for the Minister to agree to involve Hogwarts in such a deathtrap once more. Percy quietly slipped into the room and the Minister smiled slightly when he saw him.

"Amos, Amos," Fudge said reassuringly, "Mister Weasley has just returned from doing some investigating and I think it's only fair that we inquire of him to see if he was able to come across anything that might shed some light on what has occurred." They all turned to face Percy.

"Well, M-m-in-minister," he stammered slightly as he spoke, "I was not able to discern anything in the tent that appeared to be out of order. I went through all of the champions' ready stations and the rest of the tent and there was not a single clue to be found."

"That's unfortunate," Fudge replied with a frown. "Now, we have some of the faculty down on the ground trying to find traces of any magic that may have been used. Our hope is that they might be able to determine not only how the boys were transported but precisely where. If we can figure this out, then we should be able to recover them and get some clues as to who is responsible for this fiasco."

Percy reached into his pocket to pull out a handkerchief and Cedric's house pin, which he had grabbed from the tent fell onto the wooden floor. He glanced at everyone else quickly to see if they had noticed before he quickly crouched down and slipped it back into his pocket. If he was never going to see Cedric again, he figured he should at least have a token by which he would be able to remember him. But he also knew that if anyone saw he had it, it would immediately raise questions as to where he found it, why he was carrying it with him, and possibly what he had done with Cedric and Harry. Not wanting to have to try to explain himself at a time when tensions and suspicious were clearly very high, he figured it best to not draw any attention to himself in those areas.

He walked over to the front of the box and looked down onto the ground of the Quidditch pitch, which had been transformed for this final task of the tournament. His eyes were fixated on the center of the maze, the last place he had seen the boy - nay, the man - he loved. If he looked closely enough, he felt he could almost see Cedric standing there with Harry as they both reached to put their hands on the cup.

Why had Harry insisted that Cedric come with him into the center of the maze? Why did it appear he was so insistent that they both put their hands on the cup at the same time? Harry had never done anything to indicated that he might cause mischief or bring any harm to a fellow students, but what did they really know about his upbringing? Percy knew that his parents adored Harry, but everyone knew that his time in the Muggle world was easily described as depressing, abusive, and possibly even torturous. What if he was a psychopath just waiting to have a psychotic break? Could he be responsible for what was happening? Could he be somewhere now torturing his precious Cedric or doing something even worse? He felt a burning hatred for Harry, blaming him for this, even if he didn't know what was going to happen. No one said he had to do the noble thing. No one said he had to help Cedric up so that the tournament would end in a tie. He had earned the win fairly and if he wasn't such a show off, Cedric would be safely in his sights and hopefully a few hours from now in his arms, too.

He turned back to the men who were gathered about in the Minister's box, continuing to discuss their theories and a plan for trying to find the boys. The efforts of the faculty investigation had proved fruitless and they were back to the drawing board for a new way of trying to find them. He listened intently to the fanciful ideas that were being presented, but was personally at a loss for any theories of his own.

Suddenly there were loud cheers coming from the crowd, who had been asked to remain in the stands unless there was an emergency. The last thing they needed right now was mass panic. But the noise had led all of the men to turn to the window and look down at the pitch. At the center of the maze, it appeared that Harry and Cedric had returned with the cup still firmly planted in both of their hands. They were lying motionless on the ground. Percy, overcome by his love for Cedric, turned and pushed past the other Ministry officials and skipped as quickly as he could down the stairs. In a matter of seconds he was down onto the pitch and had made his way into the center of the maze.

By this time, Harry had manged to his feet and was standing over Cedric. "I don't know if he's going to make it," he said as Percy approached. Percy didn't hear a word Harry had said because he was so focused on the apparently unconscious man before him.

Percy tried to hold back tears. "Come on, Cedric. Don't leave me. I can't go on without you. You can do this." He stopped for a moment as he choked up a little on his words. "Please, 'Ric." He laid his head down on Cedric's chest and grabbed his hand tightly.

"Percy? You realize everyone can see you right?"

"Potter! Shut up! What did you do to him anyway?" Percy turned his head just as he realized he recognized the voice that had addressed him. He turned back toward Cedric who was smiling, his eyes beaming up at him. "I don't care!" He yelled as he gave Cedric a hug and planted a kiss firmly on his lips.

In the few hours that followed, lots of stories were shared and explanations were given. But Percy was happier than ever. He stayed at Cedric's side through the night and for years to come.


End file.
